The story of “Cinderella” follows the fortunes of young Ella (Lily James) whose merchant father remarries following the death of her mother. Eager to support her loving father, Ella welcomes her new stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and her daughters Anastasia (Holliday Grainger) and Drisella (Sophie McShera) into the family home. But, when Ella’s father unexpectedly passes away, she finds herself at the mercy of a jealous and cruel new family. Finally relegated to nothing more than a servant girl covered in ashes, and spitefully renamed Cinderella, Ella could easily begin to lose hope.

Yet, despite the cruelty inflicted upon her, Ella is determined to honour her mother’s dying words and to “have courage and be kind.” She will not give in to despair nor despise those who mistreat her. And then there is the dashing stranger she meets in the woods. Unaware that he is really a prince, not merely an apprentice at the Palace, Ella finally feels she has met a kindred soul. It appears her fortunes may be about to change when the Palace sends out an open invitation for all maidens to attend a ball, raising Ella’s hopes of once again encountering the charming Kit (Richard Madden).

Alas, her stepmother forbids her to attend and callously rips apart her dress. But, as in all good fairy tales, help is at hand, and a kindly beggar woman (Helena Bonham Carter) steps forward and – armed with a pumpkin and a few mice – changes Cinderella’s life forever.

The film tells the true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.

The latest addition to the Star Wars franchise has finally spoken out about his involvement. Chris Weitz took over scripting duties on Gareth Edwards’ standalone movie from Gary Whitta last year, and recently spoke to Slash Film about the process.

“Well I think it still is the core,” he says of Whitta’s original script. “So there’s a very strong structure from Gary’s work and that’s a huge advantage to me. But just like with Cinderella [his most recent effort], it’s a director’s medium so it’s really about my making what Gareth needs to do his film.”

He goes on to discuss the experience of securing the gig, which sounds like a dream come true…

“But in terms of…in a weird way, it was like meeting for any assignment. Go in, talk about how you work and talk about the idea… So I tried to be as cool as possible in these meetings while still being aware if I got the assignment I was going to be able to work on something I’ve been dreaming of doing.”

Finally, he addresses the hopes of the series’ die-hard fans:

“They need to expect everything because it’s Star Wars. They have to. If I don’t do that I’m failing in my job.”

Directed by Gareth Edwards with Felicity Jones expected to star, the first Star Wars stand alone movie will open in December 2016.

]]>0sff-webmasterhttp://www.showfilmfirst.com/?p=215042015-03-03T15:16:45Z2015-03-02T23:00:00Z Ahead of the release of Chappie this week, we have three exciting new clips to share.

From the director of District 9 and Elysium comes Chappie, starring Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, with Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman. Every child comes into the world full of promise, and none more so than Chappie: he is gifted, special, a prodigy. Like any child, Chappie will come under the influence of his surroundings – some good, some bad – and he will rely on his heart and soul to find his way in the world and become his own man. But there’s one thing that makes Chappie different from anyone else: he is a robot. The first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. That’s a dangerous idea – and it’s a challenge that will pit Chappie against powerful, destructive forces that would ensure that he is the last of his kind.

Starring: Dev Patel, Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Sharlto Copley

CHAPPIE – AT CINEMAS MARCH 6

]]>0sff-webmasterhttp://www.showfilmfirst.com/?p=214942015-03-02T09:29:41Z2015-03-02T09:27:01ZThe first image from The Danish Girl has appeared online, featuring Eddie Redmayne as Einar Wegener, later Lili Elebe, one of the first men to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

The film is an adaptation of David Ebershoff‘s novel of the same name, which tells the story of Lili and her wife Greta (Alicia Vikander), a painter whose pieces featuring Lili in drag helped prompt her change of gender.

Redmayne describes the part as “the most sensitive role I have played” in an interview with The Daily Mail, and goes on to explain the lengths he is going to to ensure he captures the essence of Lili’s character.

“We’re looking at everything from a feminine perspective,” says Redmayne. ‘How to sit, to walk, to pose, roll on a pair of stockings. How to put on a pair of heels – and how to walk in them. Everything.”

Directed by Tom Hooper and co-starring Amber Heard and Matthias Schoenaerts, The Danish Girl will open in 2016, with a specific release date to be confirmed.

A pulse-pounding thriller set in the nocturnal underbelly of contemporary Los Angeles. Lou Bloom is a driven young man, desperate for work, who discovers the high-speed world of L.A. crime journalism. Finding a group of freelance camera crews who film crashes, fires, murder and other mayhem, Lou muscles into the cut-throat, dangerous realm of nightcrawling – where each police siren wail equals a possible windfall and victims are converted into dollars and cents. Aided by Nina, a veteran of the blood-sport that is local TV news, Lou blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.

Big city lawyer Hank Palmer returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town’s judge (Duvall), is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.

A veteran CIA agent (Nicolas Cage) discovers that he’s suffering from an advanced case of dementia. With only a short amount of time left before his eventual decline, he becomes obsessed with tracking down the terrorist mastermind who once narrowly escaped his grasp.

Rosie and Alex have been best friends since they were 5, so they couldn’t possibly be right for one another… or could they? When it comes to love, life and making the right choices, these two are their own worst enemies. One awkward turn at 18, one missed opportunity… and life sends them hurling in different directions. But somehow, across time, space and different continents, the tie that binds them cannot be undone – despite unwanted pregnancies, disastrous love affairs, marriage, infidelity and divorce. Will they find their way back to one another, or will it be too late? Based on Cecelia Ahern’s bestselling novel “Where Rainbows End”, LOVE, ROSIE is a modern comedy-of-errors tale posing the ultimate question: Do we really only get one shot at true love?